Richard Procter says, “WhatsApp has crossed another milestone number, with founder Jan Koum announcing that the messaging service now has more than 700 million active monthly users. That’s 250 million more users than WhatsApp had in February 2014, when Facebook announced plans to buy it for $19 billion. (The deal closed in October, with Koum taking a Facebook board seat and continuing to run WhatsApp.)”. WhatsApp Hits 700 Million Users ReadWrite  [...]

Ritika Trikha says, “When we’re mobile, we’re social. In 2014, we spent 45 minutes a day on social apps on our smartphones and tablets—the biggest use for our devices after games, according to Flurry, the mobile-analytics firm Yahoo purchased this year. Social applications—social networks, messaging apps, and other forms of connection—now account for 28 percent of our time spent on apps, up from 24 percent in 2013. Facebook still dominates our usage. But in many ways, the Facebook-defined paradigm for social networking fell apart in 2014. Social connections aren’t about... [...]

Matt Asay says, “This will not be a good year for those that believe in human progress. At least, not if enterprise software is any indication. Or, more specifically, enterprise data. As much as we keep coming up with technologies to harness data and put it to use, things continue to fall apart, as Chinua Achebe might say. From data lakes to Internet of Things (IoT) to private clouds, expect to see a lot more entropy in 2015. But also expect to see open source increasingly help us tame it all”. How Open Source Can Fix 2015’s Data Entropy ReadWrite  [...]

Matt Asay says, “Many enterprises seem content to toe-dip in the mobile deluge. That’s unwise. As Facebook, Uber and a host of mobile-first companies up-end traditional ways of communicating and commuting, companies that don’t take a mobile-first position risk becoming the Microsofts of their industries: big and profitable from yesterday’s businesses, but struggling for relevance in tomorrow’s enterprise. In 2015 we should expect to see enterprises finally get serious about mobile as they stare obsolescence in the face”. 2015: The Year Of The Mobile Singularity ReadWrite  [...]

Richard Procter says, “Rumors are circulating that Microsoft is actually building a new web browser to compete with Google Chrome and Firefox, via this report from ZDNet. The report cites unnamed sources as saying Microsoft’s browser project, code-named Spartan, will replace Internet Explorer and accompany Windows 10. There’s also this tweet from Thomas Nigro, a Microsoft Student Lead and and VLC developer”. Microsoft May Launch A New Browser That Supports Chrome Extensions ReadWrite  [...]

Matt Asay says, “Perhaps the biggest trend in enterprise computing is driven by a host of very small things. That is, Big Data, a terrible term used to describe the exploding volumes, variety and velocity of data, is largely the result of small devices, whether Internet of Things-style sensors or mobile devices. If 2014 was the year that enterprises desperately tried to take off the Big Data training wheels, 2015 will be the year they succeed. Ironically, this won’t be because they master the intricacies of Hadoop and Spark. Instead, it will be because 2015 will be the year we stop trying... [...]

Bill Ready says, “Mobile is on the rise and has helped disrupt many traditional industries, including transportation, accommodations, services and retail. As a result, mobile commerce is on a tear, and is expected to account for global revenues of $204 billion by year end. As consumers shift to mobile, they’re demanding simple and straightforward buying experiences like those of Airbnb, Trunk Club, Uber and YPlan. The simpler mobile buying becomes, the more mobile commerce will grow. Yet there’s still a steep gap between browsing and buying on mobile. Too many obstacles still stand... [...]

Matt Asay says, “Data science remains the surest ticket to Big Salary nirvana. If only it paid equally large dividends for the companies paying those salaries. Part of the problem stems from getting enough qualified people into a market desperate for answers. But part of the problem stems from asking the wrong questions in the first place. Big Love For Big Data Given the furor over Big Data, it’s not surprising to see companies clamoring to hire people with data science expertise. As LinkedIn’s annual analysis of 330 million user profiles shows, statistical analysis and data mining... [...]

Matt Asay says, “There has never been a better time to be in software, and the hiring trends prove it. According to Dice.com’s semi-annual report, tech hiring is at unprecedented levels. For tech professionals, this means that now is the time to ask for a better, higher-paying job. Which may not actually be what developers want. Tech Hiring Is Eating The World Forget partying like it’s 1999. As software becomes essential to the operation of all business, tech professionals are seeing their stock rise to record-breaking levels, as Dice.com’s December hiring report reveals”. Tech... [...]

Yoav Vilner says, “It’s almost 2015, and it’s time everyone realized that users matter more than anything. Yes, more than the actual product and far more than the short-term revenue that app developers and social networks can earn off them. Yet not everyone gets that. Certainly not Facebook, which—as this recent Time piece illustrates—is still busy aiming to expand across the globe. Facebook isn’t asking for money upfront but rather selling all of our personal data and spanking us with advertisements in order to earn their dough”. What Your Business Can Learn From Ello ReadWrite  [...]